WWII US Tanker Troops (21st Century XD line)

dandaman · Post by **dandaman** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:02 pm

I need everyone's honest opinion about the 1:18 XD WWII US tank troops.

How do you feel about their accuracy? Are they worthy?

Which tanks do they look best in? And please don't say the FOV Sherman just because of the price. If you had to create a great looking diorama, and had to use these guys, whose tank would you use and why.

Are these even the best tank troops out there? Are there any 1:18 scale tank troops I don't know about? Maybe some guys that come with a tank?

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:25 pm

At the moment, the 21c WWII US tankers are the best out there en masse. A better figure was made for the BBI lineup, but it is only avaliable with the BBI Sherman and that is somewhat hard to come by.

The tanker figures for the older 21c Battle of the Bulge (BoB) series and the D-Day series are the best. There is an older tanker figure, a small version which came with the S1 Sherman and a larger version with the M-41 tanks, but its not up to par with the newer figures. The BoB figures have better paintjobs, but less articulation and accessories. The D-Day series figures have excellent articulation, lots of accessories, and some have removable helmets. The skin-tone tends to be a bit tanned, however.

The BoB tankers look great in any of the vehicles that sport a winterized paintscheme. The D-Day figures look great with the armor in the OD-green and cammo paintschemes. I use them in all my WWII allied armor except the BBI Sherman. This includes the 21c Sherman, M-3 Halftrack, M-16 Halftrack, the FOV Sherman as well as the M-41. The M-41 isn't a WWII vehicle, but the figures go well with it as it sports an early 1950s/Korean era paintscheme. The other nice feature about the M-41 is that due to the full interior, it can be outfitted with a full crew of four tankers.

Hope this helps

General Blasto · Post by **General Blasto** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:34 pm

I think this was talked about a while ago.
The "stock" figure that comes with the shermans is a smaller guy and so-so. I like the latest run uniforms, but don't like the sun tanned looking skin on the figures

BUT the helmet is removable from the commander and you can swap out another head for him

If you get a bunch of him, you can always use the helmet and a different head in the other figures

General Blasto

What tank would I use ???
Why a kitbashed one of course, like the VC firefly like the one I made if I finish painting it, or the M-24 s I'm making right now. Or how about the Big Kahuna M-25 Teddy tank I built

momaw nadon · Post by **momaw nadon** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:42 pm

To be totally truthful, I would have to say the US Tanker that came with the 21st Century M4 Sherman is the best. Not the first series one, but the one that came with the others that followed. He also comes with the M41 Walker Bulldog. The articulation is not great, as he as angle-cut joints, but I like the overall look of him. They face is unpainted, so it's flesh tone plastic. Helmet doesn't come off ether, but he looks the best. If you work him you can out fit any tank with 4 of him. I have some that I was able to work into the driver and gunner hatches of the M4 Sherman. The first series Battle of the Bulge US Tanker works very well too. Look much like the above one, but the articulation it better and has gloves. Would work for any European theater though, as it’s cool in most parts. I don't really care for the bbi WWII tanker, as he is too large and the goofy look on his face. Also sometimes the articulation doesn't look right when his arms are in certain positions, but most of bbi figures suffer that.

The best tank would IMO be the 21st Century M4 Sherman (olive drab) series 4 version. It has the best paint of any allied tank. Very basic and you can have many lined up and it doesn’t look odd. Some of the tanks you have the numbers that makes it hard to have more than one is the same diorama. That is if you don’t customize. The second would be the M41 Walker Bulldog (even know not a WWII tank). It has the best play value at the best look. The bbi M4 Sherman as big play value too, but it looks to me too toyish. Also if you don’t take the thing apart and remove the figure holder, you can’t get him in very far for that driving out of the hatch or just coming out look.

momaw nadon